I like your house ,,, nicely done!! As far as paint color, in my opinion ,,, the blue in your kitchen is a "bright" color whereas the sage color is "muted". If you took that sage color and turned it into a light lime green (think granny smith apple), then the colors would pop together (look at the inspiration photo of the spider plant next to the blue paint). For that blue ,,, I would pair with (in the same tone and intensity) lime green, yellow, tangerine, or crisp white. It really depends on how much color you want. I can see a yellow or tangerine in your dining room with those teal chairs, but I also like lime green. I would not go with tan, I would do a crisp white before tan, if I wanted to go neutral. A "tan" that would work with that color blue, I think might clash with your hardwood floors. With the hardwood floors and the mix of woods in that space (which I really like, by the way) I would put white on the walls and bring in color with accents (pillows, rugs, pictures). Also, what's up with the red room in the background? Do you like that room? Is that color staying? I really like your fireplace. Have you ever considered painting the brick? If you do go with a bright color on the wall, you might want to consider painting it white and leaving the accents black. Good luck ,,, can't wait to see the after pictures!! :)

Hello Jayne, What a fun space! Here are a few of my thoughts: For the dining space, I would stick with a small, rectangular table. Because you have a doorway to the porch near the dining area and you want room to walk around easily, I would aim for something not larger than 60" long by 36" wide, but you can double check that in the space. As for the seating area, if you want to maximize seating, I might aim for a couch with one or two chairs along the wall with the window. I notice when I have guests, everyone chooses a chair. Not everyone wants to snuggle up next to someone they don't know very well on a sectional. It is also easier to rearrange if you decide to change up the layout. If you want to have even more options for seating, it might also be nice to do one or more ottomans that are cushioned and could be used for feet or as additional seating for guests. They could be grouped together or spread out when being used. If you ended up replacing your coffee table with a/an ottoman/s, you may want to also add end tables so there is a place to set drinks, remotes, or lamps, if desired. For an entertainment center, I would potentially choose something a bit more narrow to make sure it wasn't in the walkway, For instance, this entertainment center is 14" D so it is the same as the depth change in the wall so it could be flush. I can be clumsy and prefer to have things tucked away or I run into them! Then I would add a rug, some lamps, and maybe a great mirror over the fireplace to make it look bigger and brighter! Good luck with your decorating and please share after pictures when you're done!

@ SapphireStitch While it would be nice to wave a magic wand with an unlimited checkbook - I don't have that. I do have access to some money (got a HELOC). If some of the changes need to be done in stages and can be done effectively - we can do that, because the more money I have to pull upfront from the HELOC, the more I'll end up paying in interest. (yuck). I'm also not averse to acting as my own general contractor/project manager, if needed; I've done that before (successfully) But I'd rather not have to overall manage the project, just because my current employment is a boatload more demanding than my previous employment. The nice thing is that we don't have a defined deadline where "this must be done by" - no one is getting married, boatloads of relatives aren't coming to visit, etc. However, the kitchen as it currently stands is a source of daily irritation. We're getting to the point that if anyone is already in the kitchen, we try to avoid going in there until that person has left the kitchen. Tempers flare....we've got my boyfriend (who was envisioning a quiet, child-free retirement), my teenager (while she's not as much of a drama queen as some teens - she's just starting the teenage years, LOL), and me - frustrated as the primary food purchaser, preparer, organizer, clean-up person. And if my boyfriend happens to suddenly realize his blood sugar has dropped - get the hell out of the way in the kitchen. He's not very good at listening to his body - he literally passed out one time when his blood sugar dropped too low - he dashed into the kitchen, grabbed a glucerna and the last thing he remembered was opening it up - but he woke up on the floor sitting in a puddle of the stuff. (I wasn't home at the time). When either I or my teen are in the kitchen and if boyfriend does the mad dash into the kitchen - we pretty much have to drop what we are doing so he can grab something and while he stands there and he starts shoveling whatever down his throat. And since the space is so tight - it can mean leaving stuff cooking on the stove, etc. One time he dashed in, grabbed a breakfast sandwich out of the refrigerator, yanked what was already cooking in the microwave out, and threw his sandwich in. Anyhow, I digress. I know that some of the things we want are going to be big-ticket items - new cabinets, granite or quartzite countertops, slide-in induction stove. That's why I'm also looking for cost-efficient plans, such as instead of moving the sink to the middle of the room, let's keep it on the same wall and just shorten the distance from the hot water heater to the new sink location. Let's not blow out any of the exterior walls, and we can keep the current windows, dishwasher, and refrigerator. If replacing the 10'x13' current laminate would be cheapest to match new hardwood to the existing hardwood, rather than ripping it all out and putting tile down in a 20'x13' space, I'm fine keeping hardwood. If a nice, medium-stain maple cabinet is cheaper than white painted cabinets, I'm find with the the stained version... I prefer it, personally. Rather than a huge pantry cabinet, if building a pantry closet with adjustable shelves is cheaper, I'm fine with that (plus with all the small appliances and bulk-purchases from Costco and BJ's - I think it would suit our storage needs better). If getting an island fits the layout, but is out of reach - I'm fine holding off on installing island cabinets and countertop and using a kitchen table in the meantime. And because we don't have a "get it done by" date... once I have a really solid design/layout... I have the time to shop different cabinet lines and stoves, wait for sales and then to be ready to capitalize on hopefully a decent deal. I don't know if it's true, but I did see some articles that indicate the best time to shop for kitchen cabinets is November to early January.

I agree with the architect the living should be next to the kitchen as conceived, with a dynamic ceiling and views. Wet bar does not mean you have to leave everything out on a long counter. You can section off a work counter/ice/ref on the stair end and the remainder can be storage cabinets under the tv. Recess the Master door in line with the tv wall (may require flipping the bath/closet, have to address). Ditch the powder room, SF is just too scarce. The pantry I'm torn on, they eat up space, but with a moved wet bar area and Dining in front it may be acceptable to have it breaking up the view and connection to the kitchen.